Catherine and William appear on the balcony of
Buckingham Palace after their wedding

The kings and queens of the UK in recent history have been:Queen Victoria (1837-1901); King Edward the Seventh (1901-1910);
King George the Fifth (1910-1936); King Edward the Eighth (1936);
King George the Sixth (1936-1952); Queen Elizabeth the Second (1952-present).

Queen Elizabeth the Second was born in 1926. She is the current head of state
for the United Kingdom, and also head of the Commonwealth, a group of countries
which used to be part of the former British Empire. She will celebrate her Diamond
Jubilee (60 years as Queen) in 2012. She is a member of a royal family line
known as the House of Windsor.

Both the Queen's sister (Princess Margaret) and her mother (known as the
Queen Mother) died in 2002. The Queen is married to Prince Philip,
whose title is the Duke of Edinburgh (not King).

The Queen's eldest son is Prince Charles (born in 1948). His official title
is the Prince of Wales. If he becomes king, he will be known as King Charles
the Third. He was married to Princess Diana, but they divorced in 1996.
Diana died in a car accident in Paris in 1997. Prince Charles' partner, Camilla,
married him in a civil ceremony in Windsor in 2005. Camilla is now known as the
Duchess of Cornwall, and when Prince Charles becomes King she has asked
to be known as the Princess Consort (not the Queen Consort).

Charles has two sons: Prince William (born in 1982) and Prince Harry
(born in 1984). William married Kate Middleton (more formally known as
Catherine) on 29 April 2011 in Westminster Abbey, after which the couple
are called the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. If Prince William becomes
king he will be known as King William the Fifth. The Queen has three other children.
Princess Anne has the title of Princess Royal. Prince Andrew
is the Duke of York. Prince Edward is the Earl of Wessex.

The main home of the Queen is at Buckingham Palace in London. She spends
April and the second week of June and many of her private weekends at Windsor
Castle (see: Travel/Tours/England/Windsor).
Other official residences are at Sandringham in Norfolk and at Balmoral
in Scotland.

The Queen is protected by soldiers from the Household Division. The soldiers
on foot wear a black bearskin hat. They are known as the Foot Guards: there
are 5 different types (Grenadier Guards, Coldstream Guards, Welsh Guards, Scots
Guards and Irish Guards). The soldiers on horses wear a pointed helmet and are
known as the Household Cavalry: the Life Guards wear white in their helmet,
and the Blues and Royals wear red. There is a regular ceremony at Buckingham Palace
known as the Changing of the Guards. The Yeomen of the Guard can
be seen at the Tower of London: their duties are mainly ceremonial.

Statue of Queen Victoria,
Windsor Castle

Windsor Castle
(Windsor)

Entrance to
Hampton Court Palace

The Queen attends many events and official occasions both in the UK and abroad,
and supports the work of many charities. Each June there is a ceremony to celebrate
her "official" birthday (not her real birthday), known as Trooping
the Colour (see: Ideas/Album/TroopingTheColour).
Soon after this there is the Garter Day ceremony in Windsor Castle (see:
Ideas/Album/GarterDay):
a tradition dating back to 1348. In November she takes part in the ceremony which
pays tribute to those who died in wars on Remembrance Sunday (see: Ideas/Album/RemembranceSunday).
Another official duty is the State Opening of Parliament in October or
November (see: Ideas/Album/StateOpeningOfParliament).
In May and June she likes to attend the horse racing events Derby Day (see:
Ideas/Album/DerbyDay)
and Royal Ascot (see: Ideas/Album/RoyalAscot).